Woman's Killing Detailed In Warrant

After strangling a Barkhamsted woman in her home almost two years ago, Anthony Rivera stripped her body, doused it with an accelerant and set it on fire, an arrest warrant unsealed on Friday says.

Rivera, 28, of the Bronx, N.Y., was charged this month with killing Audrey Lover and torching her house 22 months ago. He is being held in lieu of $1.07 million bail and is due back in Litchfield Superior Court Tuesday.The warrant for Rivera's arrest paints a portrait of an angry man bent on getting back at Lover because he felt ``she did something stupid.'' The 50-year-old woman's body was found by firefighters on the morning of Oct. 17, 1996. A decorative wreath was found on her chest.

The house fire was set in several areas -- including the victim's body -- with oil from a lamp in the house, an inspector for the state fire marshal's office determined. Part of the lamp was found near Lover's legs.

Leonard St. Denis, an acquaintance of Rivera's, told police that Rivera confessed to him last year that he had killed Lover, the warrant says. Rivera told him he broke into Lover's house seeking revenge, but St. Denis did not know why. Rivera, St. Denis added, thought that Lover was wealthy. Lover was a benefits analyst for The Hartford Insurance Group.

Authorities and family friends have said that Rivera knew Lover's daughter, Jennifer Cosseboom, but have provided few additional details.

St. Denis told police that Rivera told him that Michael Glanville, another friend of Cosseboom's, was with the suspect when he broke into Lover's home.

Rivera said Glanville set the fire after Rivera had strangled Lover, St. Denis said.

Glanville, who is jailed on drug charges, has not been arrested in the Lover case and denies any involvement, the warrant says.

Rivera, according to St. Denis, said the two men were in Lover's house looking at her jewelry and other items when Lover entered the kitchen and turned on a light. Lover started yelling at Rivera and Glanville when she saw them hiding behind a chair. Rivera said he choked Lover until she fell to the floor, and then he and Glanville decided to set the fire ``so there wouldn't be any proof who killed'' her, the warrant says.

Glanville, 28, is currently serving a 5-year sentence for selling drugs. His expected release date is Sept. 1, 2002.

State police spokesman Chris Arciero said Friday that there had been no additional arrests in the case, and that the investigation is ongoing.

When Rivera was arrested in New York recently in an unrelated year-old sexual assault case, he was informed that he would be charged in another incident. When told that, ``Rivera spontaneously stated, `Is Mike talking?' '' the warrant says. ``When asked whom Mike was, Rivera replied, `Mike Glanville.' ''

Glanville told police that Rivera committed the crime alone. He said Rivera told him that he killed Lover, removed her clothing to get rid of hair or other evidence, gathered the wreath and other flammable items from inside the house and put them on and around her before setting the fire with a cigarette lighter.

``Glanville stated that Rivera only kills people when people try to get him, and that Rivera has no other choice but to kill that person,'' the warrant reads.

In an interview with police, Lover's daughter said she and Glanville had been together earlier on the night of Oct. 16, 1996, and that they had been smoking Newport cigarettes. Police found a pack of Newports in a trash can at Lover's home. The top inner foil wrapping had been torn off.

Cosseboom said Glanville had the cigarettes that evening, the warrant says. ``She reported that whenever she herself had purchased cigarettes or whenever she opened a pack for Glanville, she had the habit of tearing off the top of the inside foil wrapper.''